Snap a Picture
by Desert.Moon
Summary: Two oneshots written for two friends. Seto Kaiba keeps hearing her laugh and tries too hard not to; Ryou Bakura finds himself lost in words he never needed to say.
1. Keep a Photograph

_**A/N:** Mmk, so I wrote this for my friend Liz (Element Girls), based on this picture I drew, which can be found here: ameko-shadowsong(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Keep-a-Photograph-97986623_

_Seto and Mokuba Kaiba are (C) Kazuki Takahashi; the dead puppies lines are derived from Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, which you should go watch immediately if you haven't. ;p_

-o-

He didn't know where she'd gone.

Intellectually, of course, he knew _exactly_ where she was. He knew exactly what she was doing, and he knew exactly when he would see her again:

_Never. _

And it wasn't like he kept looking for her, either. He didn't turn around with an idea on his lips, or a complaint about those fools at the office. He didn't keep trying to talk to her, to find her. He merely went about his daily business in such a way that no one would have even guessed he cared.

But he did. And his brother knew.

His brother knew, and he worried, because Seto never came home from work anymore. Work was the one place he never saw her, so that's where he stayed to explain away her absence. If he ate at all, it was at the office. If he slept at all, it was at the office.

If he drank at all, it was stronger than anything he'd had before she'd left.

Mokuba was scared; he had no one to turn to. There had always been Seto, and then there had always been _her_, but he couldn't talk to either of them now. He never saw them anymore.

He just wanted to see them.

Seto wanted that, too. Maybe he wouldn't admit it to himself, but his greatest wish showed all three of them together, even if he did like to have her to himself once in a while. Together, they had the most fun.

_"Shh, Moki, don't tell him."_

_"Tell me what, exactly?"_

_"See, that would be telling!"_

_"Mokuba, what is she talking about?"_

_He grinned, beaming. "You can never be sure, bro!"_

_"That was not particularly specific."_

_"That's the point, now come on!" She latched onto his arm, tugging him down onto the dock. Seawater sloshed a foot below, occasionally spraying up to spatter his boots._

_"Don't fall in!" she warned, giggling hysterically. Then she pushed._

_He came back up spluttering, trying and failing to keep his dignity as he struggled to stay afloat. "What. The.__** Hell?!**__"_

_She was eyeing him critically, laughter dancing in her eyes while she fought to keep serious. "Well, whatcha think, Moki?"_

_"Mokuba! What is going on?"_

_"I don't know," the boy responded solemnly, gazing at his older brother. "It's really hard to tell. Maybe we should just ask him?"_

_Grinning, she crouched down and leaned over the edge of the dock. He glared at her through the wood-brown hair washed into his sapphire eyes by the water. "This is _not_ clean."_

_"We were wondering," she began, eyes glinting, "if the sleeves on your jacket are so big 'cause you have floaties hidden under them."_

_For a minute, he just stared at her, speechless. Then, growling slightly, he reached up and pulled her in, too. "You guys are gonna drown!" Mokuba declared—as, shrieking, she grabbed his sleeve and yanked him down with her. _

Seeing Mokuba meant they were together now. And being together only brought memories of _fun_, of her. Of… death.

_"Haha, _I'm_ going to Lit when I die! No Heaven or Hell for me!"_

_He regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "And Lit is…?"_

_"Ten times better than Heaven! We have SoshiLee and the angels all look like Bakura!"_

_"…Yugi's friend?"_

_"Yeah! And when I die, you'll be there waiting for me, and when you die, I'll be there waiting for you."_

_"That does not make any sense."_

_"Haha, you're such a dork! Have some imagination, and a little bit of faith!"_

_He exhaled slightly, frowning. "When I die, they will put me in a hole in the ground and I will rot away until there is nothing left."_

_She rolled her eyes, laughing. "Fine, you do that. _I'm_ going to Lit! And you'll be there whether you want to or not." Then she flung her arms around him, giggling uncontrollably. "You can't stop it, you dork."_

_"Please stop calling me that."_

_"But it's true!" _

It was true that he wanted to believe her. But it was also true that he _didn't_. He knew what happened after you died: nothing. You rotted.

Still… he wished that she would always be happy. He wished she would never be hurt.

_"—and so then we were like—OUCH!"_

_He turned back to see her sitting on the sidewalk, arms wrapped around one of her legs, the other stretched out in front of her. She bit down hard on her lip, then glanced up at him standing over her and flashed a smile through the tears at the corner of her eyes._

_"Heh, I'm fine, give me a minute to get over the shock." She giggled slightly._

_"Both your knees and elbows are bleeding," he said flatly. "Can you stand up?"_

_"Both?" She laughed. "I'm such a klutz. But it's just the sidewalk." Wobbling, she stood, blood trickling down her legs. "Look, I can even walk!" To prove it, she took two steps and tripped again. He grabbed her arm as she fell to stop her from hitting the ground._

_"Do you need to go to the hospital?"_

_Without warning, she burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh! You're blowing this way out of proportion, Seto! I just skinned my knee!"_

_"And other knee, and elbow, and other elbow."_

_"Yeah, them too." She grinned. "Can we go back?"_

_"I'm not carrying you home."_

_"Hey!" More laughter bubbled out of her in an uncontrollable fountain. "I'm not the one treating it like a mortal injury! I'm fine."_

_Even so, she leaned on his arm the whole way back, a happy little smile on her face, the occasional further giggle bursting from her lips. Somehow, he didn't think she was using him as support because she needed to._

_Mokuba walked in on yet _another_ giggle fit as Seto wrapped her arms and legs in bandages. A frown of intense concentration pulled his brow down while she laughed hysterically, tugging on one end of the white material. "Gosh, Seto, all I needed was a band-aid! I can't believe you don't even know how to use these!"_

_"You're making it extremely difficult," he growled, glaring. "Can't you sit still?"_

_She burst more laughter as she spotted Mokuba. "Moki, make him stop! I'm gonna be a mummy and never move again!" _

That was it. The house… The massive, elaborate mansion was so _quiet_ without her. Nobody laughed anymore. Nobody.

So he didn't wonder where she'd gone, because he knew that. He _knew_ it—_andhedidn'tbelieveitwasLitdidhe? _—so instead he wondered where the laughter had gone.

That was an entirely different question, wasn't it?

He was starting to forget what it sounded like.

Worse: He was starting to forget what _she_ sounded like. What she looked like.

There was a photograph… A certain one he had in mind. Determined to find it, he finally left the office, urging the limo driver on faster and faster. Breathing erratically, he burst into the house—

Only to find that Mokuba had already tapped it to the refrigerator door.

_"Smile, Mr. Kaiba?"_

_He scowled at the photographer. "Just do your job and take the picture, Kodenshi."_

_Cowed by the expression, the man's face paled. "Yes, Sir."_

_That would have been the end of it, too, if not for _her_. Of course she had to start laughing. It was just a little chuckle, sort of muffled; to be honest, it sounded like she was choking._

_"Mr. Kodenshi, didn't you know that he _can't_ smile?" The chuckles were escalating into hysterical giggles again. "Remember, every time Seto s-smiles—" She couldn't breathe around her laughter now. "—a—a puppy d-dies."_

_Both males were staring at her; she waved her hand and gasped, "G-go ahead and t-take the picture, I'll be fine." So she said, but she was doubled over; it wouldn't make for a very good photo. The photographer was grinning as he watched; Seto still looked frustrated with bewilderment. She couldn't stop laughing, and she_ didn't_, not for a good five minutes._

_Taking a deep breath, she straightened up, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. "Sorry 'bout that," she said cheerily, breathlessly. "I—"_

_Then she caught sight of the very small smile at the corner of Seto's mouth. "PLUS ONE DEAD PUPPIES!" she cheered, and burst into more peals of laughter just as the camera flared._


	2. Capture the Memory

_**A/N: **And this one was written for my wonderful friend Aki, based on this other picture I drew, which can be found here. ameko-shadowsong(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Capture-the-Memory-98328976 _

_Bakura Ryou is (C) Kazuki Takahashi_

-o-

It would have been quite accurate to say that he was _lost_.

He had never been a particularly driven boy, with no goals beyond _do well in school_ and _keep my friends alive_. But now he was even worse, wandering through life without any direction whatsoever. His grades never wavered, nor did his mask; the only lie was the smile, and no one was ever sure there was something wrong.

But he came home with so many new bruises from not watching where he walked that _He_ started taking over on the road to the apartment so they didn't both wind up dead.

Of course, _He_ thought it was ridiculous, this pining for _her_. But Ryou didn't care what _He_ thought, as long as _He_ stayed quiet and didn't hurt anyone. Ryou just wanted to see her again. To touch her. To see her smile.

_He thought it was probably the snapping and cracking of several limbs losing their status as 'hale and hearty' that alerted her to his presence. Her face appeared briefly at her bedroom window; a minute later, she opened the front door, stepping outside in her pajamas to see him sprawled in the poor bushes. Blushing, he scrambled to his feet, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly._

_"Ryou? What are you doing here?"_

_"Eheh… Crushing your bushes," he said brightly, smiling cheerily and not even knowing he was melting her heart again as he did._

_She giggled, face flushing happily. "Um, is that _why_ you came, or was there another reason?"_

_The blush darkened to scarlet across his pale skin, complementing the crimson autumn leaves that stuck haphazardly in his snowy hair. "You've missed school for a few days, and I was beginning to grow anxious. Are you alright?"_

_"It was just a fever, that's all." She looked absurdly pleased to have been so sick, and he wondered if it was just because she didn't want to be at school._

_"I'm better now, and not contagious. And I'll be back tomorrow."_

_"How lovely," he said sincerely. _

There was always so much he told her without ever saying it. _I miss you, I love you. _He never even consciously _thought_ those words—he just always knew them to be true. But he never _really_ said them—_andnowhenevercouldnevercouldnever__**could**__._

_"Would you tell me something that you think you'll never do?_

_"Die," she responded promptly, then ducked behind him as if she expected to be attack, giggling and refusing to unlace her fingers from his. Puzzled, he stopped walking._

_"No, no, keep going," she urged brightly, peering over his shoulder. "You're doing a good job protecting me from the snipers."_

_"Oh, alright," he agreed cheerfully, though he couldn't be sure what she meant._

_They walked in contented silence for a little while, fingers entwined, until she remembered the question. "Wait, what about you?"_

_"What? Oh. Well, I don't know." He smiled. "Perhaps I'll never learn to walk without trip—" Oh, irony of ironies: As he spoke, she tripped, falling forward. "And perhaps we can lean on each other the whole way back," he offered warmly, doing his best to catch her. Flushing, she turned back to see what she'd caught her foot on, and laughed to see a single pink shoe._

_"Good," she said happily. "For a moment, I thought it was a steak." _

Ryou could never be sure, but he thought maybe she really did need him to lean on. Not physically, but—sometimes, she just seemed sad. Sometimes, he had to hold her up.

He didn't mind.

_"It's alright, don't worry, please calm down." Anxiety flared across his face, his eyes wide and worried. Her knuckles were already bleeding from one unfortunate incident with a tree—and he had already seen too much blood, too much of it on his own hands because of _Him_. Gently, he reached out and snagged a flailing fist. She fought for a minute, until she saw him; she slowed, but her breathing didn't._

_"Please don't," he said, with as much warmth in his voice as he could muster—and that was a lot, because it was so easy with her, even easier than with anyone else. "It's going to be alright. Please calm down."_

_She looked at him with such shame, tears gathering at the corner of her pretty eyes as her breaths grew calmer. Hesitantly, he reached out with his other hand and touched her cheek, then held her close._

_"I promise, it's alright." _

If only he could have protected her. Oh, if only he could _always_ have protected her—but sometimes, she protected him, too. He felt safer with her than anyone else—even when she said those strange, strange things that seemed to contradict her intentions.

_"Hey, leave him alone!" echoed from across the room, turning heads—especially, thankfully, those of the girls surrounding him, the__** fan club**__ he couldn't work up the courage to earn a reprieve from. Sheepishly, he looked up to see her walking over, a touch of irritation drawing her brows together. Tittering and casting glances over their shoulders, most of the girls scattered, though one quiet one lingered for a moment._

_Ryou smiled when she reached him, pouring his gratitude into the expression. She couldn't help but smile back—though she looked a little sad. "Annoying girls," she pronounced, then glanced back. "Oh, but she's really nice."_

_"I'm sure she is," Ryou agreed amiably._

_She seemed to hesitate, then added, "She really does like you, more than these other girls. Maybe you should talk to her."_

_He flushed slightly, looking apprehensive. "Oh, I'm sure she doesn't. That's alright." _

It was always the time he spent with her that was the best, that wasn't wasted. If he'd had his way, she'd be with him forever. She would make all his days wonderful.

She was the only future he ever really looked forward to.

And no… Now he never saw her. Her face was missing from his life, fading away like the sunset at light's end. The night was coming on fast.

Maybe it was pure exasperation that made _Him_ do it. Maybe _He_ was simply tired of the bruises that made them look abused, or weary of the fear and despair roiling beneath the surface.

But when Ryou woke up, there was a photograph he couldn't remember finding taped to the refrigerator. The same one he had been intending to seek out the next day.

_"It's so pretty here!" she cried happily, flopping down onto a bench and grinning up at him. Smiling, he sat down beside her._

_"It's going to be lovelier shortly," Ryou promised, smiling his heartwarming smile._

_"Pulchritudinous," she said, and giggled. He laughed along with her._

_"Look, the water's all sparkly—the sun's already going down."_

_There were a thousand compliments in reply to that, but he didn't even think them. They were all true, so there was no need to speak them aloud. He simply smiled brighter and watched the colors flare across the watery horizon like a blazing wedding train. Mostly, though, he watched _her_, out of the corner of his warm, gentle eyes. Tranquility spread across her face with the smile; he relaxed, and so did she. Her hands were in her lap, but he reached out anyway, and then he rested his arm gently around her shoulders._

_Startled, she stiffened, then grinned widely, looking like she was having trouble breathing, and loosened up again._

_Behind them, a camera flashed._


End file.
